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Grants will aid elderly The Jackson County Housing Authority and the Rogue Valley Manor have received federal grants to provide housing aid for low-income elderly and disabled people. The grants, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, gives the Jackson County Housing Authority $461,436 to help pay rent for low-income people with disabilities in 100 housing units. The Rogue Valley Manor was awarded $1.85 million to build 22 housing units for very low-income elderly people in Grants Pass. "Very low income" means a household makes less than 50 percent of the median annual income in the area; on a national basis, that means less than $8,000 a year. The manor will receive $1.55 million for construction, and $302,000 to subsidize the rent for five years. Subsidies allow renters to pay about 30 percent of their income for rent while the government picks up the balance. "We're excited about it," said Brian McLemore, the manor's administrator of corporate development. Jill Collins, the manor's director of community outreach, said the 22 Grants Pass units will be added to the 30 units the manor currently owns, the Foothill Retirement Community. Construction would probably start at the end of the next summer. With HUD funding it received last year, the manor will also build another 60 units in Medford and add 28 more units in Roseburg at the Oakgrove Retirement Community the manor also owns, Collins said. The manor also just completed 28 units in Bend, and just received additional HUD funding to build 66 units in Davis, Calif. Two other Southern Oregon organizations received grant money: The Douglas County Housing Authority, to subsidize rent for 25 units for low-income people with disabilities; and Options for Southern Oregon in Roseburg, to build 18 housing units for disabled people and allow five years of rental subsidies. The $3.8 million in grants to Southern Oregon makes a total of 165 units, which Roberta Ando, a community builder for the state HUD office, described as a "huge number." Ando said it must have been at least four or five years since Southern Oregon has received this much money. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA